


Letters from Oxford

by ninemoons42



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Books, Crossover, Epistolary, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, School Project
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-15
Updated: 2011-12-15
Packaged: 2017-10-27 09:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/294073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninemoons42/pseuds/ninemoons42





	Letters from Oxford

  
title: Letters from Oxford  
author: [](http://ninemoons42.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**ninemoons42**](http://ninemoons42.dreamwidth.org/)  
word count: approx. 3420  
fandoms: X-Men: First Class [movieverse], Harry Potter  
characters: Charles Xavier, Raven Darkholme, Erik Lehnsherr, Harry Potter, the Dursleys  
rating: PG  
notes: Written for the 2011 Multi-Fandom Crossover Fanfiction Exchange @ [](http://xover-exchange.livejournal.com/profile)[**xover_exchange**](http://xover-exchange.livejournal.com/) , for recipient [](http://55sunsets.livejournal.com/profile)[**55sunsets**](http://55sunsets.livejournal.com/). Ten-year-old Harry Potter participates in a letter-writing project at school, and draws Charles Francis Xavier from the hat. What would they ever have in common?  
Trigger warning for implied discussion of child abuse and bullying.

  
**September**

Dear Mr. Xavier,

How do you do? My name is Harry Potter, from Little Whinging. You already know about the letter-writing project, I think, or your name wouldn’t be in the box. I waited for everyone else to pick out names first, and then I got the last name, and that was you. I don’t know much about Oxford; I’ve never been.

One of the questions for this project is, describe yourself. How am I supposed to do that? Do I describe my face? The things I like to do? Can you help me? I didn’t know it was possible for someone to have a degree at 17. You must be awfully smart. I like maths, and I like reading about King Arthur and his knights, but that’s probably boring to someone like you. I also like motorcycles, but I am too small to ride or drive them right now.

Please write back soon. And thank you.

Harry

///

Dear Harry,

It was a very pleasant surprise to get your letter! I’m very happy to hear from you. Please, call me Charles.

You said you waited for everyone else to pick names from the...box?...and then you got me as the last name. I hope this letter, and I as your correspondent, will not be a disappointment.

I suppose I can tell you what I usually say when people ask me to describe myself? I have blue eyes and two odd freckles on my nose. I am slightly proud of my hair and I am glad there’s quite a lot of it. Sometimes I have nightmares in which I lose my hair, and those are no fun at all. I’m rather good at science, although my chosen field is genetics. I can try to explain that to you in the future, perhaps.

What else, what else? I am tapping my pen – my favourite pen – against my nose and trying to think. Tell me about some of your habits some time. I’ve just reread your letter and noticed that you like reading about King Arthur. One of my favourite books is _The Once and Future King_. Have you read that one? What did you think of it? If you haven’t, I strongly recommend it. The book is divided into four parts, and perhaps it will be easy for you to find the first one, _The Sword in the Stone_. Didn’t they make a movie out of that?

Do tell me what you look like next time. And tell me if I am being boring, won’t you? My sister sometimes tells me that I like to listen to my own voice. I will tell you about her in the next letter.

Yours,  
Charles

///

Dear Charles,

Wow, you wrote back really fast! I thought you’d be busy. Everyone seems to be busy when I ask them to help me. But my teacher helps me with these letters, and she is usually kind to us. Do you think I should make her a present to say thank you?

I looked in the mirror to describe myself. It wasn’t a big mirror. It’s the mirror in my Aunt’s bathroom. There’s a lot of pink lace on it. I don’t know why. I couldn’t stay long, my Uncle wanted me to get started cooking dinner, so I had to look at myself very quickly.

I have black hair and green eyes and I wear glasses. The glasses have been broken several times, but I taped them back together because I couldn’t get new ones. There is a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on my head, and people look at me funny when they can see it, so I hide it with my hair, which is black, and there’s a lot of it. Sticks up at the back of my head when I’ve been sleeping. I’m thin and small and short if you compare me to my cousin, who is a big pig of a boy. I’m quick on my feet, though, I can outrun almost everyone.

There’s a movie of _The Sword in the Stone_? I didn’t know that. But then I don’t have a chance to watch TV or go to the movies. I like books, and comics. I will ask if they have the books in the library, and I will read them.

What’s it like to have a sister? Is she nice? Does she tease you? Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a family. People keep telling me my mum and dad had an accident and died, but sometimes I think that they’re not telling me the whole story.

I like it when people write me long letters. You’re not boring.

Harry

///

Dear Harry,

Sorry for the delay with this letter. I’m afraid I _have_ been busy, and for that, I apologise. I had to prepare to present an important paper to my tutor and it took me the better part of a week to get everything finished. Now there’s nothing left to do but wait for the results. I am nervous and excited. It was not an easy paper to write!

I have many, many questions about your family, but I realize that it might not always be easy to talk about these topics, so I will leave it up to you whether you’d like to discuss them at length or only give me short answers. First, however, please accept my deepest sympathies for your loss. It must be very strange and very difficult to be among family members who are like strangers. I hope they are not mistreating you?

I understand from your letter that you do not much like your cousin. I wonder if you and I have had any similar experiences, because I do not have a high opinion of my stepbrother; I would much rather spend time with Raven – my sister. She is my best friend and a very, very good companion. She likes to make fun of me and she pulls my hair, like she did when we were children, but she does it to cheer me up and distract me from my work so I do not much mind.

We do not look at all alike, however. If I send you a photograph, will you have a safe place to keep it? It might make you laugh to see all the differences between us. Raven is tall and blonde-haired and always smiling, and she has lovely eyes, and she is very beautiful. Next to her I look a bit of a shrimp, small and red-faced and frowning.

It occurs to me that perhaps if we ever had a chance to meet we would not have any problems finding each other. What do you think? Perhaps we can plan for it during your school holidays? It should not be too difficult for us to travel down to Surrey for a weekend.

One more question before I go, and I hope you will not be troubled by it. What exactly do you mean when you say you don’t watch TV or go to the movies?

Raven says hello.

Charles

///

Dear Charles,

I’ll say hello to Raven first, all right? _Hello Raven I’m Harry Potter pleased to meet you, please do not pull Charles’s hair except when he deserves it, you sound like a very happy person._ There. I hope that by the time you receive this letter you’ll know how you did on that paper. Was it for your degree? What do you mean by “very difficult”? We are about to get ready for end of term reports here. I’m supposed to be writing about life cycles and ecosystems. I think I understand most of it.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon are, well, they’re the Dursleys. They spend a lot of time shouting at me, telling me to get out of their way and be quiet and stay in my room. I guess I have gotten used to it. I don’t have much space here, but I have a place to keep my toys and my books and if you send me a picture I will put it in one of my schoolbooks so it will be safe, and my cousin won’t find it.

Dudley’s a bully. That’s my cousin’s name. He’s always trying to get his own way, he eats and eats and eats, and he has a gang and they all look a lot like him only smaller. They’re mean people, no one at school likes them, and I guess that’s why my classmates don’t like me because everyone I’ve tried to make friends with gets beaten up. I think that you and Raven will be okay, though, if you come and visit.

I wish I could send you a photo, but I don’t have any, not even of my parents. I just know I look like both of them; strangers on the street talk to me and say, I have my mother’s eyes and my father’s hair, and then they go away and I turn around to try and find them again and they’re gone. Sometimes when that happens my Aunt looks frightened and tells me to go straight home and into my room. Well, at least that means I have more time to read and answer your letters.

I really like it when you write to me. So thanks.

Harry

///

Dear Harry,

You will have to excuse me if my writing is a little shaky in this letter. I’m afraid Raven and I are reacting to what you said about your cousin and about his little _group_. We know what that is like, and it’s not fun at all, and we wanted to tell you that _everything is going to be all right_.

This only makes me more determined to come and see you somehow.

Anyway, on to more light-hearted topics, I sincerely hope. Enclosed please find the photograph that we promised you. That would be me on the left, and Raven is laughing because I am wearing one of my favourite cardigans. I don’t know why she does that.

I remember that you said you liked motorcycles? We seem to have a new neighbor, and I mention him to you because he has a fairly magnificent machine. In fact, that was how we first saw him – racing off to who knows where at top speed. Raven says that at some point she went over to look at it, and it’s a Triumph Bonneville something-or-other. I think I won’t mind listening to the roar of its engines when I’m studying. The owner seems to travel a lot on it. I don’t think I’d blame him, since he has something as nice as that to drive. If Raven or I can manage to take a picture of it, we’ll send it on to you.

Don’t let the bullies get to you, Harry. Let us know if we can help you in any way. Love from us both.

Charles

///

November

Dear Charles,

We were making snowflakes today to hang up on the walls of the classroom, and I made two extra ones to send to you. I hope you and Raven like them!

Oh, and thank you for the photo of the motorcycle! I put it up on the door of my room. If anyone asks I’ll say I got it out of a magazine.

Something happened to me while I was trying to get away from Dudley and his mates a few days ago. There’s a place where I like to hide at school, not near the rubbish bins because they’ve found me there before. It’s sort of a closet and sort of a place where they keep old books and other things. I was trying to eat lunch there and then they were just outside the door, and I sneezed because it was dusty, and I was thinking _Quiet quiet quiet you didn’t hear anything_ – and it worked! They didn’t hear me! It’s not the first time that has happened.

Do you think you’ll be able to come down here for holidays?

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to add. My teacher says I am doing very well on this project. The others aren’t getting half as much mail. I’d almost forgotten this was for school! I just think of it as trying to make friends. So, you know, thanks, to you both.

Harry

///

Dear Harry,

Thank you so much for the snowflakes! Mine is on my bookshelf, next to my favourite books. They do bring a bit of cheer to our rooms.

It sounds like you had a very lucky escape from those boys. I do wonder that no one has ever tried to discipline them. Perhaps your teachers may need to speak more sternly with their parents – but do not mind me; this is a problem I am no part of or cannot do anything about, except where a friend of mine is concerned. Just keep being brilliant and lucky and things will sort themselves out soon enough.

Ah, that reminds me to tell you the story of how I have made another new friend: the man who rides the Triumph Bonneville. His name is Erik Lehnsherr, and I met him at the post office when I posted my previous letter to you; he was picking up a package from his mum in Germany, and we got into a conversation while he was waiting in the queue. He says he’s looking up some engineering courses here at Oxford. Unfortunately that is a subject I cannot make heads or tails of, so between you and him, I am sure I will be learning about so many new things this year.

If we can make it to the Surrey area during the third week of December, will you be able to get away to see us? I am looking up the Thursday to Saturday of that week for our quick visit. If we cannot invite you to dinner at our hotel we can at least meet you for tea or a movie or a quick shopping trip! I quite look forward to seeing you, Harry.

Charles

///

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I am very sorry to be telling you the bad news – but Charles is sick and cannot travel now. The doctors say he’s almost overstrained his heart because he has been working so much, and he’s to stay in bed until the second week of January at least._

 _Oh, he just woke up – I said I was writing to you in his place, and he said, “Please give Harry my sincerest apologies.” There. I’ve just read that sentence out to him, and it made him smile, so thank you, Harry. I get worried when my brother can’t smile. He talks about himself as a frowning old thing, but really I like him best when he laughs at my jokes and your letters._

 _Charles also says that because we cannot come to see you, we must send you something extra special for Christmas, and I agree: something you can keep for yourself, easy to hide, nothing your family will be interested in. All right?_

 _We’ll try to keep you updated. Charles sends his best regards. Write us soon!_

 _Raven_

///

Dear Charles,

I was very sorry to hear that you were sick. You should follow your doctors’ orders and let Raven take care of you, all right? Maybe looking at the drawings I’m sending you with this letter might make you laugh. I’ve tried to draw you a few pictures of the big black dog in my neighbourhood, and some of the stories I like to read about. That was supposed to be Wart in the last one, although I don’t think I managed to get his face right.

I don’t get any presents from the Dursleys on my birthday or at Christmas, so I’ll be very excited and look forward to yours. And I also wonder if this year I’ll get another strange present like I did on my birthday. Last time I got a little statue of a knight – a woman knight with red hair! Sometimes I make up stories in my head about her and the battles she fights. I’ll put a picture of her in here, too.

I hope you feel better very soon.

Harry

///

Dear Harry,

I’ve been allowed to get up from bed so that I can look at your drawings properly. I loved the one of Wart – did you try to make him look like yourself? Green eyes seem to suit him very well. He looked very nice in the picture with the dragon, too! I am very envious of your drawing skills. I cannot even take good photographs! It is a good thing that I will be going into a field where I am not required to know anything about art other than how to appreciate it. I certainly appreciate yours!

Raven has gone off with some of her friends for the weekend so that she can get some rest. I’m afraid I have worn her out a little; I am not a good patient at all, and sometimes I even argue with my doctors when they come round to see how I am. You had better take the opposite leaf out of my book; if you are ever going to be in hospital, be good and follow all orders! I would have been better sooner if I had not resisted taking my medicines so much.

This weekend Erik is keeping me company, and he’s reading one of my Arthur Conan Doyles while I am writing to you. He’s very kind and very intelligent, although he doesn’t seem to talk much. Or perhaps it is just that I cannot understand some of the topics he is studying? I do not know. But he is very, very good company, and he even laughs sometimes when Raven and I are making jokes at each other’s expense. It’s nice to have a friend like him, almost as nice as having a friend like you.

Maybe I will ask for his permission to take a photo of him with his motorcycle? It will be but a small return to you for these lovely drawings of yours.

(He has just said yes, on the condition that it will be Raven who takes the photograph, so you will have to wait until she comes back. Apologies.)

I am hoping that after you receive this letter you will next get the package from us here in Oxford. I hope you will like the gifts!

Charles

///

December

Dear Charles,

I asked my teacher to take this photograph of me in the new scarf and hat that you sent me. They are very soft and warm and I like them very much. Thank you and please thank Raven for me too. I shared some of the fudge with my teacher because she has been helping me a lot with these letters, and she liked it very much. I liked the one with the crushed nuts in.

Unfortunately the Dursleys are having people over for hols this year; there will be a couple of parties, I think, and when that happens, I am usually made to stay in my room, or I’m to go round to Mrs Figg’s for the whole day. She is a kind woman, but she is a little crazy. Also I don’t like cats and she has rather a lot of them. I will try to amuse myself by reading some of the books you have mentioned in your letters. I’ve heard people talking about Sherlock Holmes; I’ll check some of the books out of our local library, because the one at school will be closed for Christmas.

Erik sounds like a nice guy! I wish I could meet him and look at his bike too. You seemed to be very happy when you were writing about him.

Hope you all have a good Christmas. Don’t forget to take your medicine.

Harry

///

 _Mr H Potter Little Whinging Surrey – I will be waiting for you at Guildford railway station at the following date and time. I have been tasked to take you to Oxford for the day, to visit some friends. I, also, am looking forward to meeting you for the first time. Dress warmly – Yours in haste E Lehnsherr (Charles Xavier’s friend with the motorcycle)_   



End file.
